Zachary Taylor's Rise to Prominence
The Mexican War was an important chapter in the story of President James K. Polk, and also in the stories of a number of other future presidents as well. It launched the political career of Zachary Taylor, while a young Lieutenant named Ulysses Grant was also present. Another president of a different nation, Jefferson Davis, was a soldier in the war, and a future presidential candidate Winfield Scott, came on the scene intending to use military victory as his launching pad to the White House.
Of all of these characters, I find the story of Taylor one of the more fascinating ones. Polk had a political problem in that he was a Democrat and all of his generals were Whigs. He had vowed to sit only one term as president, but did not want the war to be advantageous to the political career of a Whig like Scott. He believed that Taylor was also a Whig, but felt that Taylor had no political ambitions, so he promoted Taylor to a rank equal with Scott in order to deny Scott the glory of military victory.
Taylor was unpretentious and did not seem to have any huge ego. There's an anecdote about Taylor and about how a messenger came to his camp and saw Taylor in an old straw hat and assumed him to be some unimportant old man. An amused Taylor played along, exasperating the messenger before finally letting on his true identity. Taylor's men loved him in spite of his lack of formality, or more likely because of it. Ulysses Grant, who as a cadet at West Point had been greatly impressed with Winfield Scott's impressive appearance, came to greatly admire his commanding General Zachary Taylor. He wrote of Taylor in his memoirs:
"General Taylor never made any great show or parade either of uniform or retinue. In dress he was possibly too plain, rarely wearing anything in the field to indicate his rank, or even that he was an officer, but he was known to every soldier in his army and was respected by all. General Taylor was not an officer to trouble the administration much with his demands, but was inclined to do the best he could with the means given him. If he had thought he was sent to perform an impossibility with the means given him, he would probably have informed the authorities of his opinion and left them to determine what should be done. If the judgement was against him, he would have gone on and done the best he could with the means he had without parading his grievance before the public. No soldier could face either danger or responsibility more calmly than he. Those are qualities more rarely found than genius or physical courage."
Taylor won a number of victories in battles in which he was greatly outnumbered by the Mexican forces. These included the Battle of Palo Alto and the nearby Battle of Resaca de la Palma. Later at the Battle of Monterrey, the city of Monterrey had been considered "impregnable", but was captured in three days. When Mexican commander Pedro de Ampudia concluded that he was in a hopeless situation, he sent an emissary to discuss terms of surrender with Taylor. Taylor initially demanded an unconditional surrender. Ampudia refused. He pointed out that Taylor might capture the city, but would do so at a cost of many American lives. He countered with an offer to allow he and his army to retreat from the city. Taylor did not wish to lose any more men and accepted the compromise.
Polk was angry when he learned of the liberal terms of surrender negotiated by Taylor. Rather than reinforce Taylor's army for a continued advance, Polk sent a second army under General Winfield Scott, which was transported to the port of Veracruz by sea, to begin an invasion of the Mexican heartland. Scott ordered Taylor to send a large portion of his force to join Scott's army. Scott left Taylor with his remaining troops, not wanting Taylor to get any kudos for the campaign against Mexico City.
With half of Taylor's army ordered to join Scott, Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna discovered, through an intercepted letter from Scott, that Taylor was left with only 6,000 men. Knowing this, Santa Anna attacked Taylor with 20,000 men at the Battle of Buena Vista in February 1847. In spite of the overwhelming odds, Taylor's force inflicting three times as many casualties to their enemy. Around 600 American casualties were suffered in comparison to over 1,800 Mexican. Santa Ana's attack was repelled successfully and his army retreated.
At home political clubs were formed which supported Taylor for President. His support was drawn from an unusually broad assortment of political bands, including Whigs and Democrats, Northerners and Southerners. Taylor went on to win the election of 1848. He had all the indications of being a strong leader, standing up to people like Henry Clay and opposing the expansion of slavery in spite of his southern residence. He died suddenly in 1850, two years into his term, without having the opportunity to fulfill his potential to be a great president.
Of all of these characters, I find the story of Taylor one of the more fascinating ones. Polk had a political problem in that he was a Democrat and all of his generals were Whigs. He had vowed to sit only one term as president, but did not want the war to be advantageous to the political career of a Whig like Scott. He believed that Taylor was also a Whig, but felt that Taylor had no political ambitions, so he promoted Taylor to a rank equal with Scott in order to deny Scott the glory of military victory.
Taylor was unpretentious and did not seem to have any huge ego. There's an anecdote about Taylor and about how a messenger came to his camp and saw Taylor in an old straw hat and assumed him to be some unimportant old man. An amused Taylor played along, exasperating the messenger before finally letting on his true identity. Taylor's men loved him in spite of his lack of formality, or more likely because of it. Ulysses Grant, who as a cadet at West Point had been greatly impressed with Winfield Scott's impressive appearance, came to greatly admire his commanding General Zachary Taylor. He wrote of Taylor in his memoirs:
"General Taylor never made any great show or parade either of uniform or retinue. In dress he was possibly too plain, rarely wearing anything in the field to indicate his rank, or even that he was an officer, but he was known to every soldier in his army and was respected by all. General Taylor was not an officer to trouble the administration much with his demands, but was inclined to do the best he could with the means given him. If he had thought he was sent to perform an impossibility with the means given him, he would probably have informed the authorities of his opinion and left them to determine what should be done. If the judgement was against him, he would have gone on and done the best he could with the means he had without parading his grievance before the public. No soldier could face either danger or responsibility more calmly than he. Those are qualities more rarely found than genius or physical courage."
Taylor won a number of victories in battles in which he was greatly outnumbered by the Mexican forces. These included the Battle of Palo Alto and the nearby Battle of Resaca de la Palma. Later at the Battle of Monterrey, the city of Monterrey had been considered "impregnable", but was captured in three days. When Mexican commander Pedro de Ampudia concluded that he was in a hopeless situation, he sent an emissary to discuss terms of surrender with Taylor. Taylor initially demanded an unconditional surrender. Ampudia refused. He pointed out that Taylor might capture the city, but would do so at a cost of many American lives. He countered with an offer to allow he and his army to retreat from the city. Taylor did not wish to lose any more men and accepted the compromise.
Polk was angry when he learned of the liberal terms of surrender negotiated by Taylor. Rather than reinforce Taylor's army for a continued advance, Polk sent a second army under General Winfield Scott, which was transported to the port of Veracruz by sea, to begin an invasion of the Mexican heartland. Scott ordered Taylor to send a large portion of his force to join Scott's army. Scott left Taylor with his remaining troops, not wanting Taylor to get any kudos for the campaign against Mexico City.
With half of Taylor's army ordered to join Scott, Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna discovered, through an intercepted letter from Scott, that Taylor was left with only 6,000 men. Knowing this, Santa Anna attacked Taylor with 20,000 men at the Battle of Buena Vista in February 1847. In spite of the overwhelming odds, Taylor's force inflicting three times as many casualties to their enemy. Around 600 American casualties were suffered in comparison to over 1,800 Mexican. Santa Ana's attack was repelled successfully and his army retreated.
At home political clubs were formed which supported Taylor for President. His support was drawn from an unusually broad assortment of political bands, including Whigs and Democrats, Northerners and Southerners. Taylor went on to win the election of 1848. He had all the indications of being a strong leader, standing up to people like Henry Clay and opposing the expansion of slavery in spite of his southern residence. He died suddenly in 1850, two years into his term, without having the opportunity to fulfill his potential to be a great president.